1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical instrument stand, and more particularly to a musical instrument stand with a self-locking neck lock assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional musical instrument stands are available to hold musical instruments such as guitars upright for display or maintenance. A guitar-shaped musical instrument has a body, a neck and a head. Therefore, a stand for a guitar-shaped musical instrument generally has a neck lock to hold the neck and the head of the musical instrument.
With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional neck lock for a guitar-shaped musical instrument is attached to a stand with a top end and comprises a base and a neck retainer.
The base is mounted on the top end of the stand and has a mounting sleeve (70), a shaft (72), a crossbar (75), a connector (71) and two pivot arms (73, 74).
The mounting sleeve (70) is attached securely to the stand and has a front end. The shaft (72) is mounted in the front end of the mounting sleeve (70) and has a front end. With further reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the crossbar (75) is mounted transversely on the front end of the shaft (72) and has two ends and two slots (750). The slots (750) are defined through the crossbar (75) close respectively to the ends. The connector (71) is hollow, is mounted securely around the mounting sleeve (70) and has an open front. The pivot arms (73, 74) are mounted pivotally in the connector (71) and extend through the open front, and each has a front end.
The neck retainer is attached movably to the base and has a neck rest (80), a spring, two drive rods (82), two L-shaped drivers (84) and two locking palms (83).
The neck rest (80) is hollow, is attached pivotally to the front ends of the pivot arms (73, 74), abuts the open front of the connector (71) and has a top inner surface, a bottom inner surface, a front and two arms (801). The arms (801) are tubular and are attached to the front of the neck rest (80) to hold a guitar-shaped musical instrument. The drive rods (82) rotatably extend respectively through the arms (801), and each has a rear end and a front end. The L-shaped drivers (84) rotatably extend respectively through the slots (750) in the crossbar (75) and are securely mounted respectively through the drive rods (82) near the rear ends. The locking palms (83) are perpendicularly attached respectively to the front ends of the drive rods (82). The spring is mounted between the top inner surface of the neck rest (80) and the shaft (72) and presses the neck rest (80) up to an open position so the locking palms (83) point down when no external force is applied to the arms (801).
A guitar to be mounted on a conventional musical instrument stand with a neck lock has a weight, a body, a neck and a head. The neck is attached to the body and has a distal end. The head is attached to the distal end of the neck.
The guitar is mounted on the stand by placing the neck between the arms (801) and resting the head on the arms (801). The weight of the guitar pulls the neck rest (80) and the drive rods (82) down relative to the connector (71). The L-shaped drivers (84) rotated the drive rods (82) as they slide in the slots (750) in the crossbar (75). The locking palms (83) rotate to face each other and hold the neck of the guitar between the arms (801).
However, the structure of the conventional neck lock is complex, is hard to assemble and is expensive.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a musical instrument stand with a self-locking neck lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.